Internal-combustion engine



March 11 1924. 1,486,583

w. M. HUSKISSON I N'IERNAL COMBUSTI 0N ENGINE Filed Jan. 26. 1923 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 11, 1924.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM H. HUSKISSON, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK.

INTERNAL-communion mmmn Application 11011 January as, was. Serial No. 814,857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HUSKIB- SON, subject of the King of England, and resident of Larchmont Woods, New R- chelle, in the county of Westchester and- State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal- Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification. a This invention relates to internal combustion engines adapted to develop power from the combustion of hydrocarbons, and my improvements are directed to the novel construction of an engine whereby liquid fuel, even of such' heavy grade as 14 de rees Baum, or bunker oil, may be employe for operation under 'a comparatively low comression pressure in the combustion cham-t er; a further object of my improved construction being to render the engine free from all strains, to thereby eliminate risks of fracture and breakdown.

The invention especially relates to improvements in the construction of a combustion chamber, cylinders and pistons of the well known, opposed piston type of engine.

In this type' of engine one piston covers and uncovers air ports near the top of the upper cylinder, and the other piston covers and uncovers exhaust ports, for the escape of the products of combustion, near the bottom of the lower cylinder, a space between the ends of the pistons serving as the combustion chamber, when the pistons are at their innermost positions.

Whereas at the present time most high compression or Diesel engines are operated with liquid fuels of 28 to 20 degrees of Baum gravity, it is the purpose of my imrovements to so construct the engine that 1t can be efliciently o erated with the'less eostl so called bu er oils, which are usua y burned under steam boilers'and have a gravity of 14 to 11 Baum.

or this urpose it is necessary that the e ine be diasi ed so that the maximum v0 ume of com ustible charge is enclosed in a space presentin the minimum surface of retaining wall. erefore, I construct the combustion chamber as nearly spherical as possible. Also. it is recognized that where turbulence existsdn a combustion chamber it is possible to ignite and com letely burn a spray of liquid fuel at much lower compressions than obtain in the ordinary Diesel engines.

This condition is provided for by my improved constructio a There are many internal combustion engines burning liquid fuel which is sprayed into their combustion chambers, in which the compression pressure is much lower than that which obtains in the ordinary Diesel engine, the method employed to secure ignition being by radiating heat ofi a hot bulb,

plate or the like, and so transferring it to the air charge com ressed in the combustion chamber, raisin t e temperature therein in excess of that no to the heat of compress1on.

With the opposed piston type of engine, as known, having the liners and combustion chamber part of the same casting, the great range of temperature to which some parts thereof are exposed, gives rise to unequal ex ansion, and results in ultimate fracture. erefore, an important feature aim invention consists in the construction 0 the combustion chamber, as a breech, in the form of a separate unit, especially adapted to withstand the temperatures to which it will be subjected. The cylinder liners, which are also separate units, extend at opposite sides from t ebreech. Also, theopposed pistons, at their inward portions where they co-act with each other and the breech to complete the enclosing wall of the combustion chamber, are of substantialthiclmess and char acterized by their quality of heat absorption and radiation.

Other. features and advantages vention will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view, (taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2 of an engine embodying my invention, w erein provision' is made for the intake of air, under pressure, to whirl contactingly aboutthe cylinder bore in one direction and to return axially thereof, for scavenging purposes.

2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 an Fi 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1, excepting at it is taken in a lane transverse thereto, and includes mo ified air intake means. i Q

In the two different forms of my invention shown, I have illustrated only such portions of an engine as are necessary to exof my ining understood that the op amplify the features of improvement, it bepistons 1, 2, appearing in both forms, are suitably adapted to actuate an engine shaft as by known means.

These pistons however work in separate cylinders, whereof the upper cylinder has a liner 3 for piston 1 and the lower cylinder has a liner 4 for iston 2.

The liner of t e upper cylinder in Fig. 3, is pierced with ports 5 near the top for the a mission of air, and at its lower end this liner, in both views, is secured to the upper end of a breech 6, that is in the form of a cylindrical casting, having a cylindrical bore 7. The liner of the upper cylinder in Fig. 1 is without air intake ports, because in this form of my invention other means of air admission are provided and will be referred to hereinafter. The liner of the lower cylinder in both forms is pierced with ex- ,haust ports 2, and at its upper end issecured to the lower end of breech 6.

The breech 6 is provided at one side with a fuel admission nozzle 8; and at the other side it may have air admission means 9 for starting purposes.

The upper breech end 10 extends between the liner 3 and the upper perimeter of bore 7, in inverted conoidal form; and the lower breech end 11 extends between the liner 4 and the lower perimeter of bore 7 in conoidal form. In this manner the breech bore is accorded a diameter less than that of the liners, and may bear the relation of about half the diameter of the liners.

The u per piston 1 is provided at its inner and wit an inverted conoidal portion 12, complementary to b eech end 10, which terminates in a cylindrical portion 13, having a concaved face 14; the iameter of ortion 13 being less than the diameter of ore 7, that 018112111109 may be lpftobetrween the peri 0 portion 13 an re Albo ll ie lower piston 2 is provided at its inner end with a conoidal portion 15, complementary to breech end 11, which terminates in a cylindrical portion 16, having a concaved face 17, whose diameter bears the same relation to bore 7 as. that of portion 13.

The breech bore 7 is of ater length than is necessary so far as t e capacity of the combustion chamber is concerned, but the entry of piston portions 13 and 16 within the bore from its opposite ends, thereby reduces the effective length of the bore, at the time of maximum compression, and hence determines the capaci of the confined space which constitutes t e combustion chamber.

The pistons operate in their liners with working clearances between thein conoidal rtions and the respective conoidal suraces of the breech.

The inner ends of the pistons are cast with a heavy thickness of metal, to which is assesses added the substance of the portions 13 and 16. The objectof this at thickness of metal at the piston ends 1s that thereby, in conjunction with the great thickness of metal possessed b the breech, a combustion Turbulence is induced in the combustion chamber, near the end of the compression stroke, owing to the great volume of air forced from the liners past the narrow annular spaces between the piston portions 18 and 16 and the bore of the combustion cham- 6 her, as said piston portions enter therein.

The improved structural features of my engine ensure that all parts are'free to expand under a rise in temperature, the high temperatures and pressures obtaining at and immediately after ignition of the fuel bein resisted by a relatively small, compact and symmetrical breech casting.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 3 exhaust occurs through the ports 2 in liner 4, as they are uncovered b piston 2 at the end of the expansion stro e, and then the intake ports 5 in liner 3 are uncovered by piston 1, to" admit air under suitable resure, which sweeps lengthwise through iner 1, the bore of breech 6, and liner 4, to effectually scavenge the engine, through ports 2', prior to the succeeding inward strokes of the pistons for compressing the new charge of air.

The air intake means for the form of my invention shown in Fig. 1, wherein the liner 3 has no intake ports, consist of rts 17, arranged at opposite sides of the reach 6, each of the: rts havingfitted therein a valve 18, contro ed as by a cam 19, whereby through interconnecting means of usua character (not shown) these valves may be opened, and held open, in the operation of the engine, within the period while the exhaust ports 2' are open.

The ports 17 are disposed ap x iii? tangentially to the bore of the er 3 (see imately Fig. 2) and may be directed interiorly at an upward inclination, the purpose of which general disposition is that the enterin streams of air will whirl contactingly aroun the liner in the form of a hollow column, indicated by the arrow line a, and will be reflected back from the piston 1 still whirling, in a central column, indicated by the arrow line b, sweepin the residual burned before it throng I liner 3, breech bore 7, and line'- 2, for expulsion at ports 2.

This feature of scavenging air intake is in part adapted to my engine construction from the invention of Gregory D. Moguliano under whose patent application, Serial No. 527,685 filed January 7, 1922, I am licensed.

In both forms of my improved engine, the air blast passing from liner 3, through the breech bore and liner 2, will sweep away any carbon deposit or whiskers which might otherwise form around the sprayer.

Variations within the spirit and scope of my invention are equally comprehended by the foregoing disclosure.

I claim:

1. The combination, in an internal combustion engine having opposed cylinders; of a separate breech element fitted between said cylinders and having an opening theret rough cylindrical at each end and of a diameter substantially the same as that of the cylinders, said opening being of relatively small diameter towards the center with reference to the ends and having the central portion connected to said ends by frusto-conical portions, said breech being provided with tangentially disposed inlet ports at the junction of one of the frustoconical portions of the opening in the breech and the adjacent larger cylindrical portion, and pistons moving in said cylinders and shaped to conform to the end portions of the breech whereby to cover said )orts when the pistons are in their proxima positions. a

2. The combination, in an internal combustion engine having opposed cylinders; of

ence to said ends, said breech being provided,

with tangentially dis osed inlet ports at the jnnctionof one of t is end portions of the breech opening with the central portion, and pistons moving in said cylinders and having terminal portions corresponding in diameter to the central portion of the breech opening and entering therein.

3. The combination, in an internal combustion engine having opposed cylinders; of a separate breech element fitted between said cylinders and having an opening therethrough cylindrical at each end and of a diameter substantially the same as that of the cylinders, said opening being of relatively small diameter centrally with reference to said ends, said breech being provided with tangentially disposed inlet ports at the junction of one of the end portions of the breech opening with the central portion, pistons moving in said cylinders and having terminal portions corresponding in diameter to the central portion of the breech opening and entering therein, said terminal portions of the pistons having hollow segmentespherical confronting faces.

Signed at the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, this 24th day of January A. D. 1923.

WILLIAM M. HUSKISSON. 

